This week, I got some more experience with analytical processes and methods in order to test for different characteristics of the river. I was able to write a protocol for particle size analysis and a vacuum filtration of sediment so that I would not forget my process when we come back from our trip to collect samples that is coming up in about 10 days. This helped me really break down each step and ingrained the process in my head. One of my mentors Jen, also had me meet new people around USGS while collecting supplies for our day in the field this week. I got a tour of another lab in the building and got a run down of the process of different machines in analyzing dissolved organic carbon and alkalinity, trace metals, and anion conductivity. It was interesting being able to talk to people that are working on completely different projects and gaining knowledge on different topics. There are many people to learn from in the building that all work on different specialties such as chemistry, biology, and hydrology.
In order to prepare for our trip to Wyoming and Montana, I created a field sheet for the collection of data that detailed everything that we need to test for at each site. After a lot of editing and trying to fit all of the information on very few pages, we conducted a test run at the Boulder Creek to see if we would need to bring anymore items or change anything on the field sheet. This test run was extremely helpful in order to see what our days will look like on our trip. We got to run through each task and see how we will need to interact in order to collect our data quickly and efficiently. It really helped us narrow down the order that we are going to do everything in and we realized that some processes weren’t going to work out as expected. We were going to bring a filter to collect sediment with a size under 63 microns, however the filters did not collect enough sediment, so we are going to have to let the water we collect settle for a couple of hours before using a different process to collect this tiny sediment. I met some more people that will be going on the trip with us. Jen will be working on water chemistry and DNA samples, John will be taking water discharge and slope measurements as well as collecting sediment. We will also be joined by Deb who will help us collect samples, and Harrison who will be collecting sediment samples in black bottles kept out of light in order to test for age by analyzing the luminescence of quartz. I am very excited to travel to Powder River in 10 days and I now better understand the processes that we will be working on each day.
